Sliding door construction for cylindrical containers



A. MADONNA Oct. 16, 1962 SLIDING DOOR CONSTRUCTION FOR CYLINDRICALCONTAINERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 10 INVENTOR. flA f/m/vy MwwwmOct. 16, 1962 A. MADONNA SLIDING DOOR CONSTRUCTION FOR CYLINDRICALCONTAINERS Filed June 10, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ran 3,058,331 SLIBINGDGQR CGNSTRUCTIGN FOR CYLINDRICAL CONTAINERS Anthony Madonna, 1340 N.Franklin Ave, Dearborn, Mich. Filed June 10, I959, er. No. 819,339 59Claims. ((31. 68139) This invention relates to closures for cylindricalreceptacles and, in particular, to doors for rotary laundry machinedrums.

One object of this invention is to provide a laundry machine drum doorfor a rotary drum laundry machine which is quickly and easily moved outof the drum aperture or doorway which it closes to a location besidethat aperture, while at the same time remaining in close proximity tothe drum wall, so that it does not collide with the clothing inside thedrum during its opening or closing motion.

Another object is to provide a laundry machine drum door of theforegoing character which is brought into closing relationship with thedoorway by a cam action which tightly and securely closes the doorway,this cam action performing its work while the door is being movedbetween its open and closed positions.

Another object is to provide a laundry machine drum door of theforegoing character which is held in its closed position at the top ofthe drum by a latch, and at the bottom of the drum by the weight of theclothing when the drum is rotated, without requiring the latch tosustain more than the weight of the door and its component parts.

Another object is to provide a laundry machine drum door of theforegoing character wherein the door engages its supportilng guide railssolely at the end portions of its supporting rods, thereby greatlyreducing friction and eliminating the need for the grease or tallowpreviously used as a lubricant and inelfective under rnodern conditionsbecause dissolved by modern detergents.

Another object is to provide a laundry machine drum door of theforegoing character wherein the door is constructed in two parts whichare hinged to one another in such a manner as to enable the doorsections to fold only slightly relatively to one another with a largeobtuse angle therebetween, thereby avoiding the acute-angled folding ofprior folding doors which collided with the clothing inside the drum andconsequently restricted the amount of clothing which could besatisfactorily loaded into the drum.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparentduring the course of the following description of the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary side elevation, partly in verticalcross-section, through one end portion of a laundry machine drum withthe door in its closed position and shown in dotted lines in its foldedcondition, the section being taken along the line 1-1 in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary vertical longitudinal section taken along theline 2.2 in FIGURE 1, showing the camming guide rails and the door edgeflange;

FIGURE 3 is an inclined, nearly horizontal fragmentary longitudinalsection taken along the line 33 in FIGURE 1, looking upward, and showingthe rotary drum-driving shaft and shaft bearing in which it rotates,with the drum portion between the shaft and the drum periphery omittedto conserve space;

FIGURE 4 is an inclined, nearly vertical longitudinal section takenalong the line 44 in FIGURE 1, looking slightly downward;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary top plan view looking in the direction of theline 55 in FIGURE 1, showing the hold-open latch;

3,h58,33l Patented Oct. 16, 1962 FIGURE 6 is an inclined fragmentaryvertical longitudinal section taken along the line 6-6 in FIGURE 1,looking upward;

FIGURE 7 is a View similar to FIGURE 1, but with the door shown in solidlines in its open position, and in dotted lines in difierentintermediate positions; and

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary vertical cross-section, similar to FIGURE 1,but showing a modification of the invention having a hollow bafllesection mounted on and slidable as a unit with the door.

Referring to the drawings in detail, FIGURES 2 and 7 show the upperportion of a laundry machine, generally designated It as including adrum or container 12 having an approximately rectangular aperture ordoorway 14 closed by an arcuately sliding door, generally designated 16,from the closed position of FIGURE 1 to the open position of FIGURE 7and vice versa. The drum 12 is rotatably mounted upon a central shaft 17which in turn is rotatably supported in upstanding hearing brackets 19resting upon the floor or other suitable supporting structure. Thesesupporting and bearing arrangements are beyond the scope of the presentinvention and are well known to those skilled in the laundry machineart.

The drum 12 consists of a hollow cylindrical wall 18 containing thedoorway or aperture 14 closed by the door 16 and opposite end plates ordisc-shaped heads 28 (FIG- URE 2) welded or otherwise secured to theopposite ends of the cylinder 18. The doorway 14 has forward andrearward side edges 13 and 15 and opposite end edges 17. Secured to eachof the heads 20 is a cam guide rail, generally designated 22, forguiding the door 16 in its travel between its open and closed positionsas well as performing a camming action described below in connectionwith the operation of the invention. Each guide rail consists ofconvexly arcuate rearward and forward end portions 24 and 26 (FIGURE 7)spaced circumferentially apart from one another, with convex humps orturning points 2 8 and 30 connected to one another by an intermediatearcuate concave rail portion 32 extending between the turning points orhumps 28 and 30. Each of the cam guide rails 22 adjacent the rearwarddoorway side edge 15 is provided with a cam portion 29 having a ramp 31and an upstanding stop rib 33. Each rail 22 is connected at its oppositeends to the inner surface of the drum 18 by a radial arm portion orstrut 34, only one of which is shown (FIGURE 1). From a comparison ofFIGURES 1 and 7 it will be seen that the forward end portion 26 of thecamming guide rail 22 is circumferentially much longer than either therear-ward arcuate portion 24 or intermediate arcuate portion 32. A thinstop bar 35 is welded or otherwise secured to the inside of the cylinder18 to the right of the cam portion 29, to admit door-supporting rod endstherebetween, as described below.

The drum 12 is ordinarily provided with circumferentially-spacedlongitudinally-extending bafiies 36 preferably of hollow approximatelytriangular cross-section with an arcuate outer wall 38, one of whichcarries a cam rib 4d welded or otherwise secured thereto. The baffie 36carrying the cam rib 40 is located in proximity to the rearward sideedge 15 of the doorway or aperture 14 and is in the form of a bar withan inclined cam ramp 42 and a forward upstanding stop rib 44.

Mounted on the cylinder '18 near one end plate or head 20 is a stoplatch, generally designated 46, which serves the function of holding thedoor 16 in its open position (FIGURE 7). The stop latch 46 consists ofan inverted box-shaped housing 48 with a surrounding flange 5t) weldedor otherwise secured to the cylinder 18 (FIGURE 5). The housing 48 isdrilled horizontally to receive a a pivot pin 52 upon the intermediateportion of which within the housing 48 is pivotally mounted the endportion 54 of a latch lever 56. The latch lever 56 has a V-shapedintermediate latch portion 60 projecting inwardly through a suitableslot (not shown) in the cylinder 18 into the path of the door 16, asdescribed below, and has an upstanding inverted L-shaped handle. Thelatch portion 60 of the latch lever 56 is urged downwardly by a hairpinspring 64 of V-shaped form seated against the housing 48 and bearingagainst the upper .edge 66 of the intermediate portion 60 of the latchlever 56.

The door 16 (FIGURES l, 2 and 7) is of rectangular outline and arcuatecross-section slightly greater in length and width than the doorway oraperture 17 so that it overlaps the doorway 17 in its positionunderlying the latter (FIGURE The door 16 consists of sections 68 and 70pivoted to one another by a hinge 72 such as a piano hinge through whicha pivot rod or hinge rod 74 passes. The rearward section 68 terminatesat its rearward edge in a hollow cylindrical rearward edge portion 76containing a rearward cross rod 78 (FIGURE 3), the opposite ends 80 ofwhich project laterally beyond the side edges 82 of the door 16 andengage the upper surfaces of the guide rails 22 which, as previouslystated,

.are welded to the heads or end discs of the drum or container 12. Therearward portion 24 of each guide rail 22 closely approaches thecylinder 18 so as to form a pocket 84 adjacent the radial arm portion 34slightly greater in width than the diameter of the rod end 80 (FIGURE3). A hand hold or hand grip portion 86 is recessed into the rearwarddoor section 68 below the level of the surrounding portion thereof.

The larger section of the door 16 is provided with a cross rod 88 spaceda short distance away from the hinge rod 74 but disposed paralleltherewith and welded or otherwise secured to the inner surface of thedoor section 70. Like the cross rod 78, the opposite ends 90 of theintermediate cross rod 88 project beyond the side edges 82 of the door16 (FIGURE 4) and likewise engage the guide rails 22. The end portions90 of the cross rod 86, however, are shorter than the rearward cross rodso as to pass between the cam portions 29, shown in dotted lines in theupper right-hand corner of FIGURE 4, and rabbeted as at 92 to permitpassage of the ends past the cam portions 29. The guiding cam rails 22are similarly rabbeted at 93 (FIGURE 2) for the same purpose.

Mounted on the inside of the cylinder 18 near the opposite ends 20 ofthe drum 12 (FIGURE 6) and secured thereto as by welding is a door lockbolt keeper 94 having an inclined bottom wall 96 spaced away from thecylinder 18 by parallel opposite side walls 98 and provided with aninwardly-extending oblique lock bolt deflector portion 100 directedtoward the adjacent head 20. Received within the tapered pocket 102 isthe correspondingly-tapered nose portion 104 of the lock bolt 106 of adoor lock, generally designated 108. There are two of these door locks108, one adjacent each of the side edges 82 arranged opposite oneanother. Each bolt 106 has a parallel-sided rearward portion 110slidably mounted within a latch housing 112 which is secured to theunderside of the door 16, as by welding, and at its inner end containsan apertured guide block 114 also welded or otherwise secured thereto.Slidably mounted in the guide block 114 is a latch-operating rod 116surrounded by a coil spring 118 which normally urges the tapered top 104of the latch bolt 106 into the pocket 102 of the keeper 94. Thelatch-operating rod 116 terminates in a cross bar handle 120. An opening122 in the door 16 adjacent the handle gives access to the handle 120.

The forward edge 124 of the forward section 70 of the door 16 comprisesan almost right-angled bend Within which is welded or otherwise secureda forward cross rod 125 with opposite ends 127 (FIGURE 2). The door 16continues in an inwardiy-inclined cam follower flange 126 (FIGURE 7),the inner edge 123 of which is doubled back on itself as at 1:0 and isadapted to engage and climb the ramp 42 of the cam rib 40 and to come torest against the upstanding stop rib 44 thereof, as explained below inconnection with the operation of the invention.

The modified laundry machine, generally designated 140, shown in FIGURE8, is generally similar to the laundry machine 10 of FIGURES 1 to 7inclusive, and similar part-s accordingly bear the same referencenumerals. In the laundry machine 140, however, the drum 142 has adoorway 143 closed by a sliding door 144. Also provided is a baffle,generally designated 146, which is divided into three pieces, two ofwhich, generally designated 148, are short end pieces projecting onlyslightly into the interior of the drum 142 a suflicient distance tocarry the cam blocks 150. Each cam block resembles a short section ofthe cam rib 40 which terminates nearer the adjacent head 20 than theside edge 17 of the doorway 14. The gap between the end baffie parts 148is spanned or filled in by an intermediate bafiie part 152 having anupturned forward flange 154 on the forward edge of the inner wall 156which is braced by an inclined rearward wall 158 which in turnterminates in a flange 160. The flanges 154 and 160' are welded orotherwise suitably secured to the inside of the door 144 and to theinwardly-inclined cam follower flange 126 respectively. The cam followerflange 126 as before has an inner edge 128 adapted to climb the ramp 162and come to rest against the upstanding stop portions 164 of the camblocks 150 corresponding to the ramp 42 and stop rib 44 of FIGURES 1 and7, and serving similar functions.

In the operation of etither the laundry machine 10 or the modifiedlaundry machine 140, let it be assumed that the drum 12 has been rotatedto place the door 16 at the top thereof and that the door 16 or 144 isin its closed position shown in FIGURES 1 and 8, respectively. To openthe door 16 or 144, so as to insert or remove clothing or other articlesto be washed through the doorway 14, the operator inserts his handsthrough the hand holes 122 (FIGURE 6) near the opposite edges 82 of theforward door section 70 and pulls the door lock handles 120 toward oneanother so as to withdraw the tapered nose portions 104 out of thepockets 102 of the lock keepers 94, at the same time pressing downwardupon the handles 120 or adjacent portions of the door 16 with the palmsof the hands to break the door 16 at its hinge 72 and push the doorsections 68 and 70 and the hinge 72 downward toward the cam guide rails22, as shown in dotted lines in FIGURES 1 and 7. The operator theninserts his fingers in the recessed hand holds 86 of the rearward doorsection 68 and pulls tangentially thereon in a clockwise direction(FIGURES l and 7). This action causes the flange edge 128 of the forwarddoor flange 126 to descend the cam ramp 42 or 162 while at the same timethe outwardly-projecting ends 127 of the forward cross rod 125 descendthe ramps 31 of the cam portions 29 of the guide rails 22 and passbeneath the stop bar 35, which is sufficiently thin to permit this(FIGURE 1).

As the operator continues to pull to the right upon the door 16 by hisfingers against the recessed hand holds 86, the door 16 slides to theright into the open position shown in FIGURE 7, with theoutwardly-projecting ends 80, 90 and 127 of the cross rods 78, 88 and125 respectively riding along the approximately concentric forwardarcuate portions 26 of the cam guide rails 22. When the door 16 reachesits open position (FIGURE 7), the projecting ends 80 of the rearwardcross rod 78 ride under the latch portions 60 of the latch levers 56,pushing these upward against the thrust of the hairpin springs 64 untilthe rod ends 80 encounter the upstanding stop portions 29 of the camguide rails 22, whereupon the hairpin springs 64 force the latchportions 60 of the latch levers 56 downwardly behind the rearward rodends 80, holding the door 16 in its open position (FIGURE 7).

To close the door 16 and hence close the doorway or aperture 14, theoperator follows the reverse procedure by lifting upward upon the handle62 of the latch lever 56 of the latch 46 while he reaches underneathwith his fingers of his other hand and grasps the rearward edge portion76 of the door 16 (FIGURE 7) and pulls it to the left. The door thenfollows the path along the tops of the guide rails 22, coming to rest inthe dot-ted line position shown in FIGURE 1 with the intermediate crossrod 88 engaging the concave intermediate portions 32 of the cam guiderails 22. The door is now in its broken position at the hinge 72.

The operator now reaches through the doorway 14 into the hand holds 122(FIGURE 6) and grasps the door lock handles 120 and pulls the doorupward. By this action, the deflector portions 100 of the latch keepers94 (FIGURE 6) perform a carnming action to retract the nose portions 82of the latch bolts 106 while compressing the springs 118. When the noseportions 104 of the bolts 106 reach the tops of the deflector portions100, the tapered nose portions are pushed into the tapered keeperpockets 102 by the compression springs 118, and come to rest in theirlocking positions (FIGURE 6). The door 16 is now in its fully closedposition with its intermediate cross rod ends 90 (FIGURE 4) restingagainst the inner surface of the cylinder 18 adjacent the doorway 14 asa stop.

For the sake of simplicity the door edge flange 126 is shown as made inone piece. In actual practice it is made in two overlapping pieces, oneof which is slotted, and interconnected by bolts or other fasteners.This provides an accurate adjustment for the edge 128 relatively to thecam 40 or 150. It will also be evident that a similar adjustment isobtainable by raising or lowering the cam 40 or 150 relatively to theedge 128.

It will also be evident that the concave cam portions 32 of the guiderails 22 enable the door 16 to move inwardly away from the cylinder 18during its opening motion. This prevents the jamming of the door in itsguideways, as has occurred in prior doors by their becoming deformedafter an extended period of operation by the effect of the weight andcentrifugal force of the clothing being washed.

It will also be evident that the hinged door sections 68 and 70 possessa toggle action as the hinge 72 passes across a line joining theirforward and rearward edges in moving between the guide rails 22 andcylinder 18 during opening and closing motion.

The drum 12 is ordinarily the perforated inner drum of the laundrymachine, rotating within an outer solid drurn, not shown, and omittedtogether with the perforations of the cylinder 18, to simplify theshowing and avoid confusion as to the extent and boundaries of thedoorway 14.

In the acocmpanying claims, the term main cam portion refers to theguide rail portions 28, 30 and 32, the term auxiliary cam refers to thecam 40 or 150, and the term cam stop refers to the cam portion 29.

What I claim is:

1. In a laundry machine a drum-supporting structure, a hollow drumstructure rotatably mounted in said drumsupporting structure, said drumstructure including a hollow generally cylindrical longitudinal wallhaving a doorway therein and a pair of transverse Walls secured to saidlongitudinal wall in axially-spaced relationship defining with saidtransverse walls a generally cylindrical chamber, a pair of generallyarcuate door guide members mounted within said chambers, said guidemembers being connected to the inner side of said drum structureadjacent and on opposite sides of said doorway in radiallly-spacedrelationship with said longitudinal wall, a door structure of arcuatecross-section circumferentially slidably mounted on said door guidemembers inside said chamber for travel therealong betweendoorway-closing and doorway-opening positions and cam means mountedwithin said drum structure for urging said door structure outwardly intoclosing relationship with said doorway upon arrival adjacent saiddoorway.

2. A laundry machine according to claim 1, wherein said cam means isconstructed and arranged to be responsive to the travel of said doorstructure toward said doorway for urging said door structure outwardinto closing relationship with said doorway.

3. A laundry machine, according to claim 1, wherein alongitudinally-extending support is mounted within said cylinder inradially-spaced relationship thereto, and wherein said cam means isconnected to said support.

4. A laundry machine, according to claim 1, wherein alongitudinally-extending clothing baflle is mounted within said cylinderand includes a plurality of sections, one of said sections carrying saidcam means and another of said sections being secured to and travelingwith said door structure.

5. A laundry machine, according to claim 2, wherein said urging meansalso includes main cam portions connected to said guide members and anauxiliary cam spaced away from said main cam portions and separatelyengaging and urging said door structure outwardly, wherein there is alsoprovided a cam stop spaced apart from said auxiliary cam and cooperatingtherewith in forcing said door structure against said drum structureduring closing travel of said door structure.

'6. In a laundry machine a drum-supporting structure, a hollow drumstructure rotatably mounted in said drumsupporting structure, said drumstructure including a hollow generally-cylindrical longitudinal wallhaving a doorway therein and a pair of transverse walls secured to saidlongitudinal wall in axially-spaced relationship defining with saidtransverse walls a generally cylindrical chamber, a pair of generallyarcuate door guide members mounted within said chamber, said guidemembers being connected to the inner side of said drum structureadjacent and on opposite sides of said doorway in radially-spacedrelationship with said longitudinal wall, and a door structure ofarcuate cross-section circumferentially slidably mounted on said doorguide member inside said chamber for travel therealong betweendoorwayclosing and doorway-opening position, said door structure beingcomposed of a plurality of sections and a hinge pivotallyinterconnecting said sections, said door structure havingcircumferentially-spaced door-supporting portions at opposite edgesthereof slidably engaging said guide members, said guide membersadjacent said doorway having dipped portions which are dipped toward thecenter of said drum structure, said dipped portions enabling folding ofsaid door sections at said hinge toward the center of said drumstructure.

7. A laundry machine, according to claim 6, wherein said dipped portionseffect movement of said hinge toward and away from said doorway across aline interconnecting the circumferentially-spaced opposite edges of saiddoor structure whereby to provide a toggle action of the sections ofsaid door structure relatively to said doorway and guide members.

8. A laundry machine, according to claim 6, wherein cam means is mountedwithin said drum structure for urging said door sections outward intoclosing relationship with said doorway in response to its arrivaladjacent said doorway.

9. A laundry machine, according to claim 8, wherein said urging meansalso includes main cam portions connected to said guide members and anauxiliary cam spaced away from said main cam portions and separatelyengaging and urging said door structure outwardly, wherein a cam stop isspaced apart from said auxiliary cam means and cooperates therewith inforcing said door Y 7 8 structure against said drum structure duringclosing 1,630,513 Balzer May 31, 1927 travel of said door structurerelatively to said doorway. 2,142,469 Williamson et a1. J an. 3, 19392,739,730 Jonas Mar. 27, 1956 References Cited in the file of thispatent 2,740,471 Follett Apr. 3, 1956 UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 FOREIGNPATENTS 263,670 Bauch Sept. 5, 1882 219,009 Australia Aug. 28, 1958947,701 Raymond Jan. 25, 1910 798,346 Great Britain July 16, 1958

